Raigarh project (VISA Power)

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{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-Indiacoal}} The Raigarh Thermal Power Project, also known as Deveri Thermal Power Plant or Visa Thermal Power Plant, is a proposed 1,200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Chhattisgarh, India.

Location

The undated satellite photo below shows the power station under construction in Deveri and Dumarpali villages.[1]

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Background

On its website in 2011, VISA Power stated that it had "inked an MOU with the Government of Chhattisgarh in 2007 for setting up of a 1,200 MW Coal based Independent Power Plant." The company planned for the project to be commissioned in 2013.[1]

The project received environmental clearance in 2011. A September 2014 environmental status report listed the project as under construction.[2]

In November 2015, the India government projected unit 1 will be commissioned in 2017. It offered no date for unit 2.[3] In March 2016 and July 2016 it said the commissioning date for both units was "uncertain."[4][5]

Construction delay

Although construction of Unit 1 began in 2011, as of late 2016 work was not completed and was "on hold due to financial crunch," according to the Broad Status Report.[6]

According to the Economic Times, "The [Raigarh] project was allotted 99.12 million tonne (mt) of coal from the Fatehpur East coal block in Chhattisgarh. However, the project ran into rough weather due to cancellation of the coal block, the main resource based on which the thermal power project was conceived. Although the company management tried to arrange coal supplies from overseas, it failed to come up with a fruitful option. Without access to a key input like coal, the project became unviable." In January 2018, Visa Power entered into insolvency proceedings.[7]

The project does not appear in the November 2017 Broad Status of coal plants under construction, compiled by the India Ministry of Power.[8] It appears to be cancelled.

Coal source

On its website in 2011, VISA Power stated that it had been "allotted 99.12 million MT of coal from Fatehpur East Coal Block" and 35 million cubic metres from the River Mahanadi, 30 kilometres south of the proposed power station. The company said power from the proposed station "shall be supplied to Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited, Tata Power Trading Corporation Limited and balance to distribution licensees and industrial consumers in Maharashtra, Gujarat and other power-deficit states in the Northern and Western parts of India."[1]

The project's 2013 environmental status report states coal for the power station will be imported from Indonesia.[9]

Opposition

According to a report in Down to Earth, at a public hearing in October 2009 on Visa Power's Riagarh project, villagers burned the tents a day before the scheduled hearing. A C Mallo, Raigarh regional officer of Chhattisgarh Environmental Conservation Board (CECB) said, "Unfortunately, we have coal now, but 10 years later we will have only flyash. People in Raigarh believe if they disrupt a hearing, the project will not get clearance. Instead of expressing their concern and registering their opinion on the project, people tend to get aggressive and resort to violence."[10]

Project Details

Sponsor: Visa Power
Location: Deveri and Dumarpali villages, Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh
Coordinates: 21.9193737, 83.2791138 (exact)
Status: Cancelled
Nameplate capacity:

  • Unit 1: 600 MW
  • Unit 2: 600 MW

Type:
Projected in service:
Coal Type:
Coal Source: Imported, Indonesia
Estimated annual CO2: 7,096,441 tons
Source of financing:
Permits and applications: Environmental clearance, India MoEF, Aug 23, 2011

Articles and Resources

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Visa Power, "Chhattisgarh: Raigarh", Visa Power website, accessed November 2011.
  2. "Environmental compliance report," Visa Power, September 2014
  3. "Monthly Report on Broad Status of Thermal Power Projects in the Country," India CEA, November 2015
  4. "Monthly Report on Broad Status of Thermal Power Projects in the Country," Government of India Ministry of Power, March 2016
  5. "Monthly Report on Broad Status of Thermal Power Projects in the Country," India CEA, July 2016
  6. "Monthly Report on Broad Status of Thermal Power Projects in the Country," Government of India Ministry of Power, October 2016
  7. Saikat Das, Rakhi Mazumdar, "Will Visa Power head for successful revival?" Economic Times, Jan 10, 2018
  8. "Monthly Report on Broad Status of Thermal Power Projects in the Country," Government of India Ministry of Power, November 2017
  9. "Environmental Status Report," Visa Power, September 2013.
  10. "Janjgir-Champa: Where power kills," Down to Earth, Sep 15, 2010

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